Honors College News

Two rising seniors in the Honors College have been named Georgia State University’s inaugural Beckman Scholars.

The Honors College at Georgia State University has awarded the Presidential Scholarship, the university’s most prestigious and valuable academic award, to seven incoming, first-year students.

Perimeter College students Awa Cisse and Gideon Melvin each were awarded the national Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, one of the largest private scholarships in the country.

Elijah and Ezra Echols are the second set of twins in their family to attend the Newton Campus. They will be graduating from Perimeter College and transitioning to Georgia State’s Atlanta Campus.

Although Tamariya Hall had a hectic schedule between her classes and fulfilling the prerequisites for dental school, she still made time to volunteer for charitable causes and stand up for social justice issues during her education at Georgia State.

An aspiring doctor, Kristina Andrade wanted to gain valuable, practical experience in the medical field during her undergraduate studies, so she secured a job as a medical assistant at a women’s health care facility in the metro Atlanta area and also traveled abroad to Honduras to help set up medical clinics.

Lenval Duffus, who mentored other African American male students at Georgia State, wants to continue to make a difference by going to law school and eventually running for public office.

Myah Vogt, Class of ’21 Honors College graduate and Georgia State’s first Woodruff, Whitehead and Evans foundations fellow, is guided by her love of Atlanta.

A virtual STAR Awards ceremony recognizes the academic and cocurricular achievements of Perimeter College students and advisers.

Paola Berrios (B.S. ’21) is a “people person” with a love for the law. She’ll call on those qualities to become an advocate for the unheard.

Nitheyaa Shree, a senior neuroscience major, is the winner of the Spring 2021 Honors Thesis Pitch at Georgia State University.

The 15th annual Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference highlighted 150 student research and creative projects in 35 academic disciplines.

As the first student-athlete to receive the Presidential Scholarship, beach volleyball player Bailey Hatchett (B.B.A., B.A. ’22) is a powerhouse on the sand and in the classroom.

Gideon Melvin is one of eight Perimeter College students named as semifinalists for the 2021 national Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

A second-year biology major in the Honors College at Georgia State University has been named a 2021 Goldwater Scholar.

Gem Johnson has continued her cardiovascular research during the pandemic, even though she hasn’t been able to enter the lab.

Khea Archer is one of eight Perimeter College students named as semifinalists for the national 2021 Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

April Breedlove is one of eight Perimeter College students selected as semifinalists for the 2021 national Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

Loam Shin is among a select group of Perimeter College semifinalists for the national 2021 Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

Afnan Abu Sarar is one of eight Perimeter College students named as semifinalists for the 2021 national Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

Awa Cisse is one of Perimeter College’s eight semifinalists for the 2021 national Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

On a Monday in early March, Honors College students gathered in a College of Law classroom to share their ideas on how to address the lack of adequate health care for incarcerated people and other ethical quandaries facing the criminal justice system.

Zaida Crosby is one of Perimeter College’s eight semifinalists for the 2021 national Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

Fardowsa Hassan is one of Perimeter College’s eight semifinalists for the 2021 Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

Could an apple a day really keep the doctor away? What about raspberries or kale? Inside Prof. Rafaela Feresin’s nutrition science lab at Georgia State University, Honors College seniors Alivia Setka and Emily Carmichael are looking for answers.

The Honors College at Georgia State University has created a scholarship program to help two-year honors students at Perimeter College successfully transition to being four-year honors students on the university’s Atlanta Campus.

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation has selected Georgia State University as a recipient of the Beckman Scholars Program Award, which creates research and mentoring opportunities for exceptional students majoring in biology, chemistry and neuroscience.

Joshua Fife (B.A. ’19) has received the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship and will prepare for a career in the U.S. Foreign Service.

Erica Alexander (B.I.S. ’19) is one of 45 scholars from across the U.S. selected to receive the prestigious Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Graduate Fellowship.

Payton Scott also aspires to follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming a lawyer who helps people in need.

Obie Njoku, who is earning bachelor’s degrees in Religious Studies and English, came to the U.S. more than a decade ago to pursue a college education.

For the first time in its history, there is a tie for first place in the Honors Thesis Pitch at Georgia State University.

Nitheyaa Shree, a neuroscience major from Duluth, Ga. and senior in the Honors College, has been named Georgia State University’s first Marshall Scholar.

Honors College students have elected new officers to the Honors Student Organization Executive Board for the 2020-21 academic year. Read their profiles here.

Nu Rho Psi, the national honor society for neuroscience students, honored two Georgia State University Honors College scholars during its annual awards night on Oct. 22.

The first time Keianna Moyer saved a life, she knew she had found her calling.

Varun Joshi often looks to the past for the inspiration that will shape his future.

To Nyah Carlson, a good story means everything. Carlson, one of Georgia State’s new Presidential Scholars, has been developing her sense of storytelling for years.

During the last year of their undergraduate journey at Georgia State University, Mia-Simone Green hopes to use their experiences in the Honors College to advise and shepherd other students who are just starting on their own path.

When Evelyn Farkas was 13 years old, she found herself in the center of a medical mystery.

Nestor Kaputo, a recent Perimeter College honors graduate, knows the right guidance can make a big difference.

While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many students’ summer plans, Sarah Santiago was busier than ever.

Dylan Henderson’s travels to Morocco have taught him about languages and dialects, political movements, religions and cultures. Along the way, he also learned what it’s like to teach.

Rorah Ndungu’s curiosity about the operations of the human body and brain has led her to study neuroscience at Georgia State University. But it’s her family who has inspired her to pursue a career in health care.

In her latest book, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson acknowledges students and the dean in the Honors College at Georgia State University.

Evan Malbrough, a spring 2020 graduate of Georgia State University’s Honors College, has received national recognition for his volunteer work in youth voter registration and engagement.

Lenval Duffus, a rising senior from Snellville who is majoring in political science, has been named by the Honors College at Georgia State University as the first-ever recipient of the Panther PRIME Scholarship.

Four years ago, Maggie Welch was recovering from a traumatic brain injury. Now she’s studying how to better treat them.

Andrea Green, who found her passion for research and engineering at Perimeter College, is among the 2,185 spring and summer graduates in Perimeter’s Class of 2020.

Donovan Mattox has built his college experience around service to his fellow students. Through his research and leadership roles, the psychology major has prioritized the needs of underrepresented communities.

As a neuroscience major, research guided Meira Robbins from behavioral labs on campus to summer internships in Israel. While the freedom to explore her passion for science led her to different countries and career opportunities, Meira will be back at Georgia State to pursue a master’s degree in education shortly after graduating from the Honors College this May.

Dani Davis, a senior biology major, is the winner of the Spring 2020 Honors Thesis Pitch at Georgia State University.

Despite family expectations to go into medicine, Georgia State University computer science major and Honors College student Nadiya Noor knew she wanted to be a part of the tech world.

At Georgia State, Lexie Newhouse (B.A. ’20) discovered a passion for business development and the start of a career.

The 14th annual Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference drew more than 180 student presentations despite moving to a virtual format in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The university set a record this year with 12 semifinalists for the fellowship, which provides students with the opportunity to live and work abroad.

Two Georgia State University Perimeter College students each will receive one of the largest private scholarships in the country, the national Jack Kent Cooke Foundation announced today.

Even though the auditorium in Georgia State University’s Centennial Hall remains closed, honors students will still have a spotlight for their undergraduate thesis projects. Instead of having students present their research live on stage, the Honors College is hosting its Spring 2020 Thesis Pitch competition as a virtual event.

For the first time in its 14-year history, the Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference has awarded three faculty members for their commitment to mentoring student research. This will also be the first time that the conference, also known as GSURC, will be a virtual showcase of student projects.

Larry Berman, founding dean of the Honors College at Georgia State University, will step down from his position, effective July 1. A renowned scholar and author on different aspects of the Vietnam War era and its legacy, he will be on research leave for the upcoming academic year to focus on research and writing for his next book.

Georgia State University students will manage and clerk what is believed to be the first student-run polling location in Fulton County.

Layten Robinson, a sophomore in Georgia State University’s Honors College who is majoring in political science, will be studying abroad for his fall 2020 semester in Barcelona.

Renowned scholar and Mellon Fellowship award winner Herman Bennett will be the plenary speaker at the 2020 Georgia State University Undergraduate Research Conference (GSURC) on April 17.

Jenny Pham, a Presidential Scholar in the Honors College majoring in political science, has been selected as Georgia State University’s 2020 Outstanding Student by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

Twelve Perimeter College students have been named semifinalists for the national Jack Kent Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, a record for the college.

On the day before his big research conference presentation, Honors College junior Abu Nadim Kabir was fretful.

Seven graduates of the Honors College at Georgia State University are recipients of the university’s Alumni Association 40 Under 40 award.

Even before his decision to become a librarian, libraries were a special place for Jose Rodriguez.

When Lidya Gossa came to America at the age of 7, she didn’t speak English. This week, the honors student graduates from Georgia State with a new goal — to become a surgeon.

Jonassie Zamor, a senior majoring in biology, was the winner of the Fall 2019 Honors Thesis Pitch at Georgia State University.

An improbable journey led Omar Rodriguez (B.S. ’14) to Georgia State, introducing him along the way to not only his bride-to-be, Meredith Steinmetz (M.P.A. ’16), but also a lifelong mentor in Honors College Dean Larry Berman — the officiant of the couple’s wedding.

The Honors College at Georgia State University connected 15 students with professional internships in London last summer—the largest group ever to participate in the London Experience program.

As far back as Eshan Bhojane can remember, he’s been a tinkerer with a boundless imagination.

Kathryn Szypulski is no stranger to the spotlight. Growing up in Cary, N.C., she joined a summer youth theater camp, working mostly backstage on set and costume design.

Isaiah Richburg grew up playing video games with his dad. Now, he is hoping to become a game designer himself.

The inspiration to one day become a doctor hit Chetna Batra hard—literally.

The pen is mightier but, in the eyes of Bronson Tharpe, programming code may be mightiest.

Faculty in Georgia State Law’s Center for Law, Health & Society have been awarded a grant to develop an undergraduate diversity in bioethics course. Students in the Honors College can enroll in spring 2020.

Growing up in the sub-Saharan African nation of Uganda, Charlotte Dennison had monkeys in her yard and could see the shores of Lake Victoria from her house.

Veda Balaji was on the way to middle school when a radio news broadcast grabbed her attention.

Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson will deliver the keynote speech at the seventh annual Founders Lecture, hosted by the Honors College at Georgia State University on Oct. 28.

Georgia State esports champion Praful Gade, an Honors psychology and neuroscience major, wants to research what goes on inside the minds of video gamers. 

Evan Malbrough, a rising senior in Public Policy, just completed an internship with the United States Department of Defense at the Pentagon.

Georgia State University is ranked the second most innovative university and third for its commitment to undergraduate teaching in the 2020 Best Colleges edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine.

Georgia State University will set a record for overall enrollment this fall semester, with more than 53,000 students enrolled and the most qualified and diverse freshman class in the institution’s history.

Lauren James, a junior in the Honors College, is one of only 15 undergraduates in the United States and Canada to receive the Generation Google Scholarship, which goes to scholars majoring in computer science and who represent diversity and leadership in the field.

Ca’Shawn Brown, a rising junior in the Honors College at Georgia State University, spent most of May studying French, sign language and deaf culture in Montpellier and Paris, France as a summer 2019 Gilman Scholar.

Kash Molwani (B.B.A. ’17) taught himself English by reading the dictionary. Now, the Schwarzman Scholar has his sights set on owning a media company.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation and the U.S. Department of National Defense Education Programs have named Georgia State University Honors College student Nitheyaa Shree a Goldwater Scholar, one of 496 scholars selected from among 5,000 sophomores and juniors who applied from across the country.

First-generation student Antoinette Charles overcame family struggles on her way to graduation.

Access to education has always been a topic of great — and personal — importance to Meklit Gebru. The graduating senior is one of just 10 scholars nationwide selected by the U.S. Agency for International Development for the prestigious Payne Fellowship.

Catherine Rakowiecki was a freshman, hiking the trails of Little River Falls in Alabama when she first heard about Georgia State University’s LEAD with Honors program.

Computer science students Isaac King and Hoang Huynh are among just 61 students from two-year colleges across the nation to receive the highly competitive scholarship this year.

Kate Schwarz, a senior music major, was the winner of the Spring 2019 Honors Thesis Pitch at Georgia State University.

More than 430 students from 53 academic departments presented their research projects during the 2019 Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference hosted by the Honors College at Georgia State University.

Georgia State University Perimeter College student Isaac King was named recipient of the New Century Transfer Pathways Scholarship for the state of Georgia.

Two Georgia State University Honors College students are among the 395 American undergraduates from 152 colleges and universities selected to receive the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to student or intern abroad during the summer of 2019.

Four graduates of the Honors College at Georgia State University are recipients of the university’s Alumni Association 40 Under 40 award, which recognizes the most influential and innovative alumni who are younger than 40.

Georgia State University is part of a national group of leading innovative institutions that has received a $2.4 million grant from the Strada Education Network to redesign the college-to-career pathway.

Antoinette Charles, a senior in the Honors College who is majoring in neuroscience and dedicated to community service, has been named Georgia State University’s 2019 Outstanding Student.

A new semester brings fresh opportunities to achieve academic success. Georgia State is excited to welcome back all of our new and returning students for the spring 2019 semester.

By the time she was 16 years old, Tanya Panwala knew she wanted to be a doctor. She wasn’t certain what her specialty would be, but she knew she wanted to be a doctor who fought back against the kind of systemic inequities that she witnessed during childhood trips to see family in Pakistan.

Kashif Molwani, a 2017 graduate of Georgia State University, is one of 147 international fellows from 38 countries to be named to the Class of 2020 Schwarzman Scholars, a one-year global affairs master’s degree program in Beijing.

Her dedication and outstanding academic record made Clifvette Webb, a senior philosophy major at Georgia State University, the ideal candidate for the 2018 Honors College Parents Club Award.

Class of 2022 Honors College student Bailey Hatchett is a Georgia State University scholarship volleyball player and a Presidential Scholar.

Claire Smith came to Georgia State University ready to dive in. The Class of 2022 Presidential Scholar will major in math with a focus in managerial sciences with the plan to pursue a career as an operational research analyst.

Georgia State University Honors College Class of 2022 Presidential Scholar Hannah Mendoza has resilience forged from experience. After moving across the country and succeeding in high school, she became the first person in her immediate family to attend college.

While many new Panthers come from hometowns far away from Georgia State University’s downtown Atlanta campus, few have come as far as Class of 2022 Presidential Scholar Sangha Park.

Josh Krivanek, a Class of 2022 Georgia State University Presidential Scholar, will major in education. His dream is to teach high school social sciences then eventually move into high school administration.

Volleyball player and Honors College student Madelyn Ott (B.S.W. ’19) aims to help others as a social worker.

Inzul Motiwala, a senior psychology major, is the 2018 recipient of the Georgia State Honors College Young Alumni Advisory Board Scholarship.

Drashti Zalavadia, a Class of 2022 Georgia State University Honors College Presidential Scholars, spent her summers as a hospital volunteer and emergency medical responder.

Class of 2022 Georgia State University Honors College Presidential Scholar Andrew Soule plans to pursue a joint MD/Ph.D. program with a dual major in neuroscience and biology.

Two new administrators have joined the staff of the Honors College at Georgia State University—one leading the Honors College at Perimeter College and the other overseeing development and fundraising at the downtown Atlanta campus.

Sydney Price is a Class of 2022 Presidential Scholar in the Georgia State University Honors College whose academic and career goals are tied to her dedication to community service.

College of Education & Human Development doctoral student Jacob English is one of five graduate students awarded a 2018 NCAA Graduate Student Research Grant.

Kevin Vettickatt (B.S. ’22), an Honors College student and Presidential Scholar, refuses to let setbacks keep him down and has his sights set on an emerging industry.

The London Experience allows Georgia State Honors College students from all majors to intern in London and other parts of the United Kingdom. The program’s global approach helps interns acquire an international perspective and gain valuable career insight.

Georgia State University is ranked the second most innovative university in the nation and second in the country for its commitment to undergraduate teaching in the 2019 Best Colleges edition of U.S. News & World Report magazine.

Bill Bolling, founder of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, will deliver the sixth annual Georgia State University Honors College Founder’s Lecture on Oct. 15.

Hainer Sibrian, an alumnus of the Honors College at Georgia State University, has received a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship.

Meklit Gebru, a junior studying international economics and Spanish at Georgia State University, is one of over 1,201 American undergraduate students from 363 colleges and universities across the U.S. selected to receive the prestigious Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to study or intern abroad during the Summer 2018 Application cycle.

Two Georgia State University Honors College students have received places on Fulbright Summer Institutes, one of the most prestigious and selective summer scholarship programs operating world-wide.

GSURC gives students the opportunity to present their research discoveries and innovative ideas to students, faculty and staff.

Life isn’t a competition for Sai Maddali. But you could understandably think that competition is his life. Throughout his time at Northview High School in Johns Creek, GA, the Georgia State University Presidential Scholar of the Class of 2021 was always seeking out that next challenge, the next achievement.

It’s a familiar story: the teenager finding the closeness and familiarity of her small, rural hometown to be oppressive, stifling. She can’t go anywhere without running into someone she knows.

You only get out what put in. You can’t reap the rewards without putting in the work. Georgia State Presidential Scholar of the Class of 2021 Brianna Smith has never had a problem doing the work. It was finding enough to challenge her.

25,400, or so, individuals from all over the world are currently undergraduate students at Georgia State University. Rachel Davis is one of them. But to think of Rachel as 1-in-25,400 is to underestimate the Class of 2021 Presidential Scholar, though being identified as a “statistic” is unlikely to bother her.

The Georgia State University Presidential Scholar of the Class of 2021 has found exactly what he was looking for.

ATLANTA—

Kiana Nicholas, a graduate of Georgia State University, can almost see campus from her post at CNN.

Kiana wanted a nontraditional university, and she chose Georgia State for the internship opportunities provided by its urban location.

Nitheyaa Shree entered her first semester of college with the typical freshman priorities: getting acclimated to new academic challenges, learning her way around an unfamiliar city, settling into her new living quarters, making new friends, and so on.

Unless they’ve been tipped off that there are teasers or hidden scenes buried within or after the scrolling list of names and locations that follow movies, most people check out when the closing credits start rolling.

ATLANTA—The London Experience allows Georgia State Honors College students from all majors to intern in London and other parts of the United Kingdom. The program’s global approach helps interns acquire an international perspective and gain valuable career insight.

“Don’t go to college with a plan. Don’t go to college thinking you’re smart.”

ATLANTA–Civil rights pioneer and author James Meredith will deliver the Founders Lecture, “Public Education: The Critical Civil Rights Issue of Our Time,” at Georgia State on Wednesday, Oct. 25.

Nia Mitchell (B.S. ‘19) is a presidential scholar with med school dreams and a compassionate heart

ATLANTA—The Georgia State University Honors College will endow the Herndon Human Rights Initiative with a $200,000 grant from the Rich Foundation.

Wunderkind Will Anderson (B.A., B.S. ’17) has been outdoing the world for years. At just 21, he’s a globetrotting archaeologist, published author, athlete, humanitarian and opera singer who loves taking care of bones.

Angelica Guilbeaux, an alumna of Georgia State University, has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to South Korea as an English teaching assistant, the U.S. Department of State and the F. William Fulbright Scholarship Board have announced.

The Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference showcases the scholarly and creative projects of the university’s undergrads and provides students insight into the work that goes into each step of a successful research project.

ATLANTA–Noa Erlitzki, a Georgia State University Honors College student, has been named a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, one of 240 award recipients nationwide.

Joey Velazquez left Georgia State in 2000 with a grade point average under 1 point. He worked in the movies and even sold a screenplay, but came back to pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer. He’ll graduate this year summa cum laude from the Honors College and will head to law school in the fall.

In Arabic, the literal translation is it is written. For Kalif Robinson, it’s a word to live by. “For me, […]

ATLANTA – Kalif Robinson, an Honors College senior studying economics with a minor in Arabic at Georgia State University, is […]

When Noah Britton thinks about starting college in a city hundreds of times bigger than his northeast Georgia hometown, he […]

Attention, residents of Buford: If your usually relaxed Monday-afternoon Starbucks break was interrupted this past spring by a piercing scream, […]

Georgia State University senior Kashif Molwani has been named a Marshall Scholar finalist and a Schwartzman Scholar semi-finalist. The Marshall […]

Receiving a scholarship as prestigious — and lucrative — as Georgia State’s Presidential Scholarship can’t help but feel like a stroke […]

The life sciences can often be a waiting game for college students. Many of them will have to wait until […]

Another accomplished film director has decided to make her home in Atlanta, aiming to be closer to the city’s burgeoning […]

Noah Albritton thought it was a typo when he saw it at Georgia State’s Scholarship Day this past spring. “I […]

When you’ve had one-student classes for nearly your entire upbringing, the prospect of landing on a campus of 35,000 students […]

Here’s a challenge: Travel to the other side of the world, to a country where you’ve never been before and […]

ATLANTA – Talitha Hanks, a sophomore studying sociology at Georgia State University, is one of around 400 American undergraduate students […]

ATLANTA – Julie Kim, a senior studying psychology at Georgia State University, is one of around 400 American undergraduate students […]

[fve]https://vimeo.com/168954417/[/fve] Recent Georgia State Honors College alumna Valentina Garzon took full advantage of her time in Atlanta. From participating in […]

ATLANTA – Paris Stroud, a Georgia State University Honors College student from Dallas, Georgia studying international economics and modern languages […]

ATLANTA — Francis Mwangi, a sophomore studying actuarial science at Georgia State University, is one of over 250 American undergraduate […]

Georgia State University Honors College junior Bara Ahmad of Alpharetta, Ga. is one of four students nationwide selected as a […]

R. Andrew Sevrinsky, a Georgia State University Honors College student, has been named a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, one of 252 award recipients nationwide.

ATLANTA–Andy Alcalá, a Georgia State University Honors College student, has been awarded a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship […]

Allison Kent had never heard about the Presidential Scholarship before someone from Georgia State called her and suggested she apply […]

Though Dabin Cheon is coming to Georgia State’s downtown Atlanta campus from a very different environment in suburban Sewanee, Ga., […]

When she was younger, Sara Abdulla wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a physician. Then she took a global studies class her junior year of high school. “I fell in love with all the different cultures and how they’re related to our everyday lives,” she says. “But I realized I couldn’t give up science, because I’m a big nerd and I liked it too much.”

It’s always nice to have a testimonial from a close friend when making a major decision. When Zach Dooley was […]

Of all the new Presidential Scholars for 2015, Carissa Lavin is from the farthest away. But after being uprooted by […]

The Presidential Scholarship is among the top awards an incoming Georgia State student can receive. In addition to covering full […]

The Presidential Scholarship is among the top awards an incoming Georgia State student can receive. In addition to covering full […]

The Presidential Scholarship is among the top awards an incoming Georgia State student can receive. In addition to covering full […]

The Presidential Scholarship is among the top awards an incoming Georgia State student can receive. In addition to covering full […]

As a first-year college student, I felt as if it was crucial for me to experience all that Georgia State […]

The Presidential Scholarship is among the top awards an incoming Georgia State student can receive. In addition to covering full […]